Yesterday, the defence minister who was visiting the state to take stock of the situation in flood-hit Kodagu was caught on camera snapping at district in charge SR Mahesh who was addressing a joint press conference with her.
In a statement issued today, the government clarified the sequence of events prior to the on-camera meltdown of the defence minister.
"The tour programme of the RM (Raksha Mantri) was finalized by the district administration of Kodagu in consultation with the public representatives. This programme was approved and circulated to all concerned two days prior to RM's arrival. Subsequently, on the request of the district administration, an interaction with the veterans was added to the schedule," the statement read.
"On completion of the field visits, as per the programme, RM was interacting with ex-servicemen who had been adversely affected by the floods, when the District in-charge minister objected and insisted that meeting with the officials be conducted first. RM clarified that the welfare of ex-servicemen was an essential part of the Ministry of Defence and the same was scheduled in the program. However, the district minister insisted that the RM immediately stop the interaction and proceed to the meeting with the officials," the statement read, which further added that the defence minister, in order to avoid the situation from deteriorating further, halted the meeting and proceeded to hold the meeting with the officials, along with the media persons.
"It was unprecedented to hold a meeting with the officials, with all the media persons present," the statement said.
The MoD statement also slammed Ramesh who, following the spat, had said that Sitharaman being a Rajya Sabha member is not fully equipped to look after the pain of its people. "She would have known the pain had she contested election by standing with the electorate, going to every house, meeting voters and asked their problems. She has been elected to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka," he told a TV channel.
"The remarks have also lowered the dignity of the upper house of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and show utter lack of regard and knowledge about the Indian Polity," the defence ministry said.
Earlier today, several Karnataka ministers had lashed out at Sitharaman for admonishing Ramesh and expressed disappointment over the incident.
Deputy chief minister of the state and Congress leader G Parameshwara lashed out at Sitharaman and reminded her that the state government derives power from the Constitution and not the Centre.
Madam @nsitharaman, our ministers have stayed back in Kodagu for weeks to oversee relief operations along with dist… https://t.co/QQixXjxvlx
— Dr. G Parameshwara (@DrParameshwara) 1535167529000
"It was disappointing to see you lash out at my colleague," he wrote in a tweet.
Congress leader and former chief minister of the state, HD Kumaraswamy, without naming the defence minister, too attacked the ruling party.
"With the conduct of BJP during these difficult times, PM Narendra Modi's actual formula of 4P to pick new ministers is being clearer," Siddaramaiah tweeted.
With the conduct of @BJP4India during these difficult times, PM @narendramodi 's actual formula of 4P to pick new m… https://t.co/YtEQnAqmFI
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) 1535180186000
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2LpnjPi
